Don’t Try to Change Your Habits. Change What You Build.
The author argues that trying to reshape personal habits often stalls productivity, so instead he builds tools that work with existing behaviors. He illustrates this by creating an email alias that captures a keyword, note, and link, automatically populating a spreadsheet for AI‑related research. This low‑code “vibe coding” workflow turns a bad habit of sending himself emails into a structured knowledge‑management system. The approach demonstrates how simple automation can align with natural work patterns.
Joe Liemandt: Alpha School and the Future of Education
Serial entrepreneur Joe Liemandt, founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital, has launched Alpha School with a $1 billion investment in AI‑driven learning. The model delivers two hours of personalized AI instruction each day, allowing students to master material before moving...
🏋🏾 The Personal Bottleneck
The post warns that founders and executives often become the very bottleneck that stalls growth, as personal capacity hits its limit. It introduces a self‑assessment framework across three categories—Decision Tax, Control Trap, and Internal OS—rating habits that drain time and...
Truths I Know at Twenty-Five
The author reflects on turning twenty‑five after a turbulent twenty‑four marked by external validation and unmet expectations. She describes a shift from chasing applause to embracing quiet, self‑directed goals, recognizing that ordinary days shape a meaningful life. The piece lists...
The Feedback Mirror
The post introduces the “Feedback Mirror,” a leadership‑coaching approach that blends Jungian psychology with organizational behavior. It argues that formal feedback captures only what people are willing to say, while the gap between official statements and lived experience holds deeper...
The Stoic Decision Framework
Leadership coach Jason Rigby outlines a Stoic Decision Framework grounded in the teachings of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca. He argues Stoicism isn’t about denying emotions but about preserving inner stability when external conditions are uncontrollable. The framework separates what...
The Jungian Individuation Check-In
The post frames Jungian individuation as a leadership tool, emphasizing that it is a lifelong integration of the whole self rather than a superficial self‑improvement exercise. It explains how embracing unconscious material, archetypes, and the shadow can deepen authenticity and...
The Contemplative Leadership Audit
The post introduces a "Contemplative Leadership Audit" crafted by a coach who blends Christian mysticism, Buddhist non‑attachment, and perennial philosophy. It argues that genuine authority does not stem from power plays but from a self emptied of ego and rooted...
The Alan Watts Reframe
The blog post "The Alan Watts Reframe" introduces Alan Watts’ teaching that the ego is a mental construction rather than an immutable self. It contrasts being swept by experience with standing as the witnessing awareness that observes thoughts and emotions....
The Authenticity Gap
Today's leaders often project polished personas that diverge from their private decision‑making realities, creating an authenticity gap. The gap is not about full transparency but about consciously managing the distance between public image and internal truth while preserving integrity. Many...
3 AI Prompts to Turn Claude Into Your Personal Memory Coach (Using a 2,500-Year-Old Trick)
The post introduces three Claude prompts that turn the ancient Method of Loci into a modern memory‑coach. By feeding information to Claude, users receive vivid, multisensory images tied to specific locations, eliminating the creative bottleneck of traditional memory‑palace construction. The...
The Brutal, Beautiful Science of “Planting Seeds”
Spring’s equinox and Aries season have sparked a surge of “planting seeds” metaphors across wellness circles. A soil scientist explains that germination is a violent, pressure‑driven process that occurs in darkness before any sunlight appears. The article uses this biology...
Federico Menapace on Healing Trauma and Fixing a Broken System | Believe in Aliens Episode 3
Federico Menapace, a former bridge engineer turned mental‑wellness advocate, survived the suicide of his mother and later healed through a psilocybin‑assisted session. Leveraging his MBA from Stanford and experience as COO of MAPS, he now challenges the profit‑driven mental‑health model...
What Ethical Leadership Grows
The article argues that ethical leadership is inseparable from everyday business decisions, shaping the culture and outcomes of an organization. It uses the tree metaphor to illustrate how leaders’ actions produce visible "fruit" such as trust, employee engagement, and customer...
5 Years of Lessons From Running My Own Bookstore
Ryan Holiday and his wife opened The Painted Porch, an independent bookstore in Bastrop, Texas, in March 2020 despite the pandemic and prevailing digital‑retail trends. Over five years the shop has not only survived but become a profitable community hub...
Raise Your Assertiveness Dramatically in 90 Minutes
Alan Weiss promotes a 90‑minute live workshop on May 23 that teaches participants how to adopt assertive behavior by shifting underlying self‑worth beliefs. The session, priced at $500, includes role‑playing, language scripts, and case‑study demonstrations. Early registrants (first 15) receive...
The Nervous System Loop of Never Fully Feeling “Done”
The post describes a common evening experience where, despite completing work tasks, the mind remains active, replaying unfinished thoughts and future plans. It attributes this lingering mental activity to the nervous system’s continued arousal, creating a loop that prevents a...
Psychological Adjustment to Life Changes After 50's
People over 50 face a blend of anticipation, relief, and uncertainty as retirement, health changes, and shifting family roles reshape daily life. Even meticulous planning cannot fully eliminate the disorientation that accompanies these transitions. Psychological adjustment hinges on responding with...
You're Not Stuck. You're Avoiding Something.
The author reveals that feeling stuck often stems from avoidance, not a lack of time. By masking pain with busyness, over‑thinking, or delayed action, many women remain in a false sense of progress. The piece urges honest self‑examination and a...
Stop Thinking Outside The Box: How Intelligent Constraints Spark Better Ideas
The article argues that removing all constraints hampers creativity, while "intelligent constraints" can spark innovative ideas. It cites Stanford psychologist Bob Sutton’s distinction between destructive and beneficial friction, and highlights Twitter’s original 140‑character limit as a feature that shaped new...
Your Identity Is Not Your History
The article argues that personal identity is shaped by current actions rather than past events. While history provides useful lessons, it does not set immutable limits on who you can become. Changing one’s self‑narrative requires deliberate, often uncomfortable, deviation from...
Defeat Negativity
The article reframes negativity as an explanatory habit, contrasting pessimistic (permanent, personal, pervasive) and optimistic (temporary, specific, changeable) lenses. It presents five practical steps for leaders to shift from self‑defeating narratives to constructive optimism, anchored by the ABCDE method. Action...
Turn Anxiety Into Curiosity
The latest Better You, Backed by Science edition positions curiosity as a practical antidote to uncertainty‑driven anxiety. Neuroscience research shows curiosity lights up dopamine‑rich reward circuits in the striatum and midbrain, which also boost motivation and memory formation in the...
I've Worked for Some Bad Bosses. Here's What I Look For Now.
Tech professionals often overlook warning signs in manager interviews, leading to toxic work environments. The article outlines three key signals: managers who blame departing staff, lack of clear performance criteria, and shifting, undocumented policies. It advises candidates to ask targeted...
They’re Not Born Monsters: How Psychological Predators Are Quietly Manufactured (And Why You Might Already Be Their Target)
The article argues that psychological predators are not born but cultivated through systematic environmental conditioning, experiences, and subtle social cues. It outlines a step‑by‑step process that transforms ordinary individuals into manipulators who disguise control as care. The piece also explains...
Engineering the Present Moment
Alan, owner of a non‑emergency medical transport firm in Tacoma, was overwhelmed by constant operational fires, shifting Medicaid rules, and fragmented AI scheduling tools. Seeking relief, he turned to Dr. Joe Dispenza’s "Becoming Supernatural" to rewire his stress response. A consultant...
Oxygen Advantage® Method Vs. Mindfulness: Key Differences Explained
The Oxygen Advantage® Method is a science‑based breathing system that retrains nasal, functional breathing to increase carbon‑dioxide tolerance and improve oxygen delivery, whereas mindfulness uses breath as a neutral anchor for present‑moment awareness. By deliberately lowering breathing volume and incorporating...
8 Habits That Look Productive But Secretly Kill Growth8 Habits That Look Productive But Secretly Kill Growth
The blog warns that many ambitious professionals mistake busy‑work for genuine progress, highlighting eight counter‑productive habits that masquerade as productivity. It illustrates how overplanning and obsessive note‑taking create a false sense of achievement while actual results remain stagnant. By exposing...
How to Build Confidence, According to Neuroscience
Recent neuroscience research reframes confidence as a dynamic, brain‑driven process rather than a static trait. The brain continuously evaluates internal cues, past outcomes, and social feedback to generate a metacognitive judgment of certainty. Deliberate practice, action‑oriented learning, and shifting validation...
Boundaryless Influence
The article argues that modern global leadership must evolve beyond command‑and‑control to embrace cultural intelligence and systemic empathy. Leaders need to shift from a universalist to a contextualist mindset, adapting values to each region’s operating system. Trust is no longer...
Life in Activism: My Personal, Five-Step Practice for Lifting My Spirits When I Am Low
The author, an activist‑focused writer, admits a recent slump caused by seasonal digital business slowdown, budget overruns, and family demands. To counter the low mood, she outlines a five‑step personal practice designed to restore energy and focus. The post blends...
Organizational Behavior Expert Makes The Case For A “Meeting Doomsday”
Organizational behavior specialist Rebecca Hinds argues that meetings persist because they are visible, not because they add value, creating a "visibility bias" that inflates calendar time. She labels the accumulated, low‑value schedule as "meeting debt" and proposes a "Meeting Doomsday"...
10 Things to Do on Days When You Just Want to Give Up
The Positivity Blog outlines ten practical tactics for anyone battling the urge to quit a habit, project, or personal goal. It starts with setting realistic expectations and reconnecting with the deeper “why” behind the effort. The piece then advises simplifying...
Future of Work Leadership Is Changing: From Burnout to Trust, Purpose, and Performance with Kurtis Lee Thomas, Stephanie Chung and...
The Future of Work podcast episode brings together Kurtis Lee Thomas, Stephanie Chung and Jasmine Escalera to argue that employee well‑being, trust‑based leadership and Gen Z expectations are reshaping how organizations succeed. Thomas shows how companies like Nike and NASA are...
The Art of Disengagement: Reclaiming Your Energy in a World That Pulls at It
The article explores how constant external demands drain personal energy and why polite disengagement often meets resistance. It highlights the emotional toll of others’ mistakes and the resulting gaslighting, hostility, and stubbornness. The author advocates for deliberate boundary setting and...
Disrupting the Spiral: A Lesson From March Madness
Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese halted star Oluchi Okananwa’s performance spiral during an NCAA tournament game by confronting her with direct eye contact and a firm belief statement. The intervention sparked a 13‑point surge, with Okananwa finishing with a...
How to Cope
Classical Wisdom is hosting a live webinar on March 25 at noon EST featuring Professor Philip Freeman, a classicist who will discuss Boethius’s *Consolation of Philosophy* and its relevance to today’s uncertainty. The session will examine how ancient Stoic thought...
How to Eliminate Crazy Busyness
Leadership coach Zena Everett warns that many executives mistake efficiency for effectiveness, leading to "Crazy Busyness." She attributes this to productivity drag—digital interruptions, long meetings, and low‑value tasks—that steal precious time. In her April Vistage Climb webinar, she will teach...
Choosing Discipline over Instant Happiness
The piece contrasts the fleeting relief of choosing immediate comfort with the deeper, lasting satisfaction that comes from disciplined action. It illustrates how short‑term avoidance—delaying tasks, skipping effort—provides momentary relief but adds hidden pressure later. The author frames this as...
Stop Trying To Become A Morning Person
Amy Landino argues that chasing the label of a "morning person" distracts from building routines that serve personal purpose. She suggests shifting focus to the version of yourself you aspire to be, starting the day with intention rather than a...
600K Lines, 60 Days: The Method Is Now Open Source
Y Combinator President and CEO Garry Tan wrote more than 600,000 lines of production code in just 60 days, with roughly 35% of those lines dedicated to automated tests. He achieved this while maintaining his full CEO workload, averaging 10,000‑20,000...
What You Tolerate Trains You
The post argues that training occurs as much through what we allow as through what we actively pursue. Each time we tolerate a lowered standard—whether lateness, disrespect, or distraction—we silently reinforce that behavior. Small compromises accumulate, gradually shifting expectations and...
How to Deliver Bad News to Executives? An IT Leader’s Communication Playbook
The StarCIO Bad News Communication Playbook gives IT leaders a step‑by‑step framework for informing executives about outages, security incidents, or missed targets. It stresses assessing impact on revenue, brand and risk, then delivering a concise headline, context, and a clear...
When I Held Up a Mirror, Hate Was Staring Back
The author, still mourning his wife and daughter, confronts a sudden, explosive reaction to a terse message from his brother, exposing lingering guilt and anger. A somatic experiencing therapist guides him through shadow work, revealing that the hatred he felt...
9 Long-Term Habits to Build Lasting Wealth
The Substack post outlines nine long‑term habits designed to create lasting wealth, from paying yourself first to treating your personal brand like a CEO. It stresses asset acquisition, deep skill mastery, a robust emergency fund, and continuous investment in knowledge....
Monday Morning Minute: 23/March/2026 - Is Your Scariest Risk on Your Agenda Today?
Mark Kolke’s Monday Morning Minute urges leaders to adopt disciplined attention to the five pillars of risk—cash, counterparties, customers, culture, and concentration. He advises identifying the first wobble, then the next potential failure, and assigning a visible owner to every...
5 Extremely Important Books To Read In Your 20s
The article highlights five essential books for people in their twenties, ranging from Meg Jay’s *The Defining Decade* to the *Almanack of Naval Ravikant*. Each title targets a core pillar of early‑adult life—psychology, habit formation, financial behavior, networking, and wealth leverage....
10 Warning Signs You’re Off Track
The article outlines ten subtle warning signs that leaders are drifting off course, such as recurring issues, slowed decision‑making, and top performers stumbling. It argues that hectic schedules often conceal strategic misalignment and that recognizing these symptoms early can prevent...
Triggered at Work: How to Keep Your Influence When Emotions Run High
The article explains how workplace triggers can instantly undermine a leader’s influence, especially when a senior figure uses provocative language in front of peers. It outlines five practical tools—naming the trigger, slowing the body, using dignity‑preserving phrases, redirecting to purpose,...
You Think It’s Love—But It’s Gaslighting: How Parents Quietly Reprogram Their Child’s Mind (And Create Lifelong Emotional Damage)
The article exposes parental gaslighting as a covert form of emotional abuse that subtly rewrites a child’s perception of reality. Unlike physical violence, it leaves no visible marks but creates deep‑seated doubts, guilt, and self‑questioning that can persist for decades....